Samuel p



(No Model.)

S. P. STILES.

FENCE.

No. 369,751. Patented Sept. 13,1887.

Warren dramas PATENT tries.

SAMUEL P. STILES, OF BARDSTOYVN, KENTUCKY.

FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,751, datedSeptember 13, 1887.

Application filed January 3, 1887. Serial No. 293,236. No model.)

To (ZZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. SrrL-Es, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bardstown, in the county of Nelson and State of Kentucky,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fences, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in fences, the main objects beingto build a durable fence that will not have any part inserted into theearth and will not be put together by nails or bolts, thus preventingdecay, which accrues usually at the lower underground ends of the postsor stakes and in and around the nail-holes.

A further object of the invention is econonly of construction, as theamount of rails that are necessary to build the fence is not much morethan one-half of that employed in building the ordinary zigzag or wormfence, and the time of construction is consequently considerably less.

The invention consists in the construction and novel arrangement of theparts hereinaf- U ter described, illustrated in the drawings, and

pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view ofthe fence.

. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 8 is a View of a portion of the fence as modified to serve as acattle-fence. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the upper parts ofthe bracerails, supportingrails, and the wires binding the same to thetop rails of the fence.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A designates the pairs of crossedstakes that perform the function of fenceposts. The said stakes of eachpair are inclined in opposite directions at or near similar angles, withtheir lower ends resting upon the ground and with their upper portionscrossing each other at suitable distances below their tops.

B B are the top or rider rails of the fence, which rails lie with theirends resting in the upper crossed ends of the supporting-stakes A, theend of the top rail of one'section of the fence overlying the end of thetop rail of the adjacent section 011 one side and the opposite endunderlying the end of the top rail of the adjacent section on the otherside.

X X are the sections of the fence, each situated between two adjacentpairs of supportingstakes A.

C G are the longitudinal fencerails, the ends of those in one sectionbeing inserted between the ends of the similar rails in the adjacentsections on each side. The fence is thus built up solidly, each sectionaiding in sustaining those adjacentto itself. The rails O in eachsection do not overlie each othervertically, so that the said rails inany two adjacent sec tions form an inclined joint or union, 0, serving apurpose hereinafter explained.

D D are brace or truss rails arranged in pairs, as shown, the members ofeach pair lying against the opposite sides of the fence and beinginclined at the proper angle to lie and bind upon a'sectionjoint, c.

E E are flexible wires of suitable size and of proper 1netal,whieh arebound tightly around the brace-rails D at the upper ends of the same andaround the ends of the top or rider rails 13. Each wire E, at itscorresponding joint, is bent up over the end of the overlying top orrider rail, being passed upward around the truss-rails D D, overlyingthe joint 0 at that point. The said wire E is thus bent down ward underthe brace or truss rails D and then bent upward, and has its endstwisted firmly and tightly together, binding the upper ends of the braceor truss rails securely to the top rails of the fence. The two brace ortruss rails of each pair are also bound together below the lowest railof the fence by a wire, F, similar to one of the wires E, and at a pointat a suitable position between their upper and lower ends are also boundby a wire, F, so that if any one of the wires should break the twoothers will hold and keep the brace rails in position.

The purpose of the truss-rails D is to cover the inclinedjointc betweenthe meeting ends of the longitudinal rails G and to support thelongitudinal rails. These trussrails support are suspended from therider-rails above the ground. By this means the truss-rails cannot rotoff at their lower ends, and, furthermore, as the said truss-rails donottouch the ground, it will be seen that when the fence settles thelongitudinal rails O and truss-rails will draw onto the wire ties andtighten the same. The suspension of the truss rails from the riderrails,with the truss-rails supported out of contact with the ground and thelongitudinal rails supported by the truss-rails, is the essen tialfeature of the present invention.

The supporting-stakes A are secured at the crossing of each pair by aflexible wire, G, which is wound around the two below their crossing andbent upward above, the end of the top rail lying lowest in said crossingand then twisted or otherwise secured together at the ends.

While the described way of binding the wires upon the supporting -rails,the bracerails, and the longitudinal rails of the fence is preferable, Ido not desire to confine myself to the same, as the wires mightbesecured to the rails in several ways, any of which would be effective insecuring the same together.

Each pair of supporting stakes A is connected a short distance belowtheir lower ends by awire, H,which prevents them from spreading aparttoo far as the fence settles. Any one of the said wires H may, ifdesired, be wrapped around one of the rails of the correspondingsections; but the preferable construction is to allow the said wire topass the rails without connection therewith, as the expansion andcontraction of the wires might deflect the fence out of a right line.

Some oftheadvantages ofthis fence are as follows: The supporting stakes,not having their ends inserted in the earth, will not readilyde cay atsaid ends, and there being no nail-holes the stakes will not rot asquickly as stakes which are connected together by nails, as there willbe no recesses to receive water when rain falls upon the fence. Theinclined joints 0 cause water to fall more rapidly from the-ends of thelongitudinal rails, so that the same dry sooner than if the said railswere vertically above each other, thus preserving them from rapid decay.The fence, havingits supporting-stakes resting upon the ground atopposite angles, is braced or trussed by the said stakes, so that itcannot be easily overthrown, and will sustain a very much greater impactor pressure than a fence made with stakes having their ends insertedinto the ground. The fence can be made of rails of any size, and, beingstraight, will require much less material than the worm or zigzag fenceso largely used.

Fig. 3 shows a modification of the fence dein the opposite direction.

its fellow to support the fence in an upright position. WVhen the fenceruns down a hill, the stakes should have their lower ends inclineddownward. They will thus brace the fence much more thoroughly than ifinclined As the fence settles the wires are drawn tighter and make thefence more solid and firm.

Having thus described my invention, whatl claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

As an improvement in fences, the combina tion of the inclined crossedstakes A, the riderrails B, resting and secured in a crotch formed bythe crossed stakes, the ends of the riderrails lapping each other in thesaid crotch, parallel inclined truss-rails D, having their upper endsarranged on opposite sides of the rider-railsat the point where the endsof the latter lap, wire ties securing the upper'ends of the truss-railsto the lapped ends of the riderrails, longitudinal rails 0, having theirends overlapping each other between the truss-rails, and the wire tiesF, connecting the truss-rails, which ties F serve to support the lappedends of the longitudinal rails, the ends of the longitudinal rails inone section of the fence overlapping corresponding rails of adjacent sections, the lapped ends being arranged in contact with each other ontheir upper and lower ends and terminating at varying distances from avertical line drawn through the end of one of the extreme upper or lowerends of a panel and thereby forming aninclinedjoint, c, the paralleltruss-rails D being arranged across and on opposite sides of the joint0, and having their lower ends suspended and out of contact with theground, whereby the said trussrails serve to cover the inclinedjoints 0between the meeting ends of the longitudinal rails C, also to supportthe said longitudinal rails, and said truss-rails are in turn suspendedfrom the rider-rails B, and thus when the fence settles the longitudinalrails and the truss rails will draw onto the wire ties, as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL P. STILES.

\Vitnesses:

D. O. HARDIN, W. J. DALMAZZO.

